Chapter 123: Right Person
Damien’s POV
The very first thing that came to Damien the moment he awoke was a dream. But he couldn’t remember exactly what it was.
Then everything else followed all at once. A throbbing ache spread through his body, like fire burning under his skin.
His ribs felt as though they were going to burst. His chest seemed to burn. Every breath he took felt like a knife slicing through his throat. For a moment, he really thought he might have died.
Not until the rest of his senses returned. He could hear the faint beeping of a monitor, even the soft shuffle of footsteps outside the door.
He had no idea where he was. When he opened his eyes, all he could see was white. White ceiling. White walls. Everything looked so clean and too bright.
“Where the fuck am I?” he breathed.
He blinked longer, until his eyes adjusted to the lights. His heart drummed loud enough to drown out the machines.
His instinct urged him to stand, to move, to kill something. But when he tried, it felt like a hot blade slicing through his muscles.
A low, angry sound slipped from his throat. “Damn it!”
He massaged his temple, and as he did, memories came to him in broken pieces. The claws, the fur, the wolves, the mud and blood under his palms. Until there was nothing left, but…
“Meredith…” he whispered out of nowhere.
Her lovely face slammed into his mind. Those innocent eyes, soft lips, the intoxicating scent, and the warmth of her walls around his member...
His chest tightened so hard he thought it would split.
He reached blindly for the mate bond. He had already marked her during the Annual Purge. So, there should have been heat. A pull to grip. Something to anchor him.
But he felt nothing. If there ever had been, it was farther than it should be. There was only cold in the part of his heart that should’ve been burning whenever she was near.
But there was none.
“Meredith,” he said before he thought. The name came out small. “My Sweet Pup…”
He tried to move again and sit up. The sheet tangled around him, but then an alarm began to scream somewhere.
The door banged open, and a female nurse rushed in. Her hands moved too quickly to stop him from doing anything.
“Alpha Damien, don’t move,” she said in an alarmed voice. “You’ve only just—”
“Where is she?” he cut her off. The tone alone told the nurse he was angry.
The nurse’s hand hovered over his arm. Her eyes flicked away. She bit her lower lip and didn’t dare to answer.
He hated the silence that followed. It dug deeper than any wound he had sustained.
He wondered how easy it would be to just be told that Meredith was safe. That she wasn’t hurt at all.
He clenched his jaw and sat up anyway. He ripped the IV out, removed the tubes around him, and ignored the nurse’s futile commands.
“Is she gone?” he muttered to himself. “Did she leave us again?”
That thought alone almost made him transform into a werewolf. The fury he felt was so overwhelming that he knew he would have to kill at least a dozen people to be comforted.
But he also felt guilty, enraged at himself for failing. Furious at anyone who had touched her. Furious at the Moon Goddess for deciding this fate for him.
To put it simply, he thought it was all his fault.
After all, he was the Alpha of Moonlit Pack. He had been raised to carry it like a boulder and not let it crush him. To make decisions others couldn’t.
But that rule seemed nonexistent now. Not when the one person he treasured most seemed to have left him.
Suddenly, a hand on the bed brought him back to his senses. The nurse tried to lay him down again.
“You need rest, Alpha,” she said, almost crying now. “Please, you can’t—”
“Silence.” His voice came out hoarse, his jaw clenched. It was a command that had always settled men and werewolves alike. “And get the fuck out of my sight…”
“But…” The nurse swallowed. She hesitated between the doctor’s and Damien’s orders. But it seemed she knew her Alpha well. Someone who didn’t ask twice, or she’d be dead.
So, she obeyed and left Damien all alone.
He tried the Pack Link this time, that little thrumming sound that had lived at the back of his mind all his life.
He tried to connect to his Beta, Xavier Caldwell. For a second, there was a strange sound, but it quickly faded.
Then, he tried to reach Magnus, but there was nothing but silence.
Damien’s fingers curled into the blanket, knuckles turning white. His body wanted to transform, find them, and tear this place apart if he had to.
But his mind told him that if he moved wrong, he would die. And Meredith would truly be gone.
What if he was wrong, though? What if Meredith was just asleep, like Magnus and Xavier? He couldn’t rely on gut feelings alone.
He hated his mind for even thinking such nonsense.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he barely heard someone clearing their throat at the door.
It turned out to be none other than Dr. Alexander. He entered quietly, folding his hands behind his back, crossing the floor to stand beside Damien’s bed.
“It’s great to see you awake, Alpha Damien,” he greeted, his voice almost a whimper. “You must be feeling stable now. But you lost a lot of blood during your recovery. I’m sorry to tell you, but you need to rest for a few more days. Your wounds—”
“Where’s my Luna?” Damien interrupted, not caring about his own condition.
Dr. Alexander’s blue eyes were steady. Damien wondered if the doctor knew something he didn’t.
“I’m sorry, but you must not—”
“Do not tell me to rest!” Damien snapped, his jaw muscles visibly tightening. “Just tell me where she is!”
The doctor held his gaze. There was a long, studying look between them. “You are still badly hurt, Alpha. You could die trying to find her.”
Damien's laugh was a dry rasp. He could feel heat rising to his eyes.
“So, she’s really gone?” he wondered aloud. “She really left us here?”
Dr. Alexander forced himself to breathe slower. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m the right person to tell you all of this…”
Suddenly, the door opened again, quieter this time. And who entered were the only two people who didn’t need any consent to fuck up Damien’s life.
It was none other than his parents.
Andra and Conrad Ravenscroft.